Chris Covington Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Forged 5 flatters this weekend with Lyle Wynn, David Gaddis and Stan Bryant. Came out pretty nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricS Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Chris, they came out really nice. What size material did you start with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 We started out with 1-15/16x 4-1/2. On the power hammer it was squared longways, then tapered to fit easily into a 1-1/2 square hole 3-1/2 inched deep (anvil). This allowed for an easily installed set in the shoulders. Cooling was required to un-seize the piece from the anvil, then back for reheating. The top operations were carried out to our desires on each instrument, re-gathering metal on the edges, driving it back into itself. Of course this made an irregular shaped face that was a bit hollowed out. Reheating to a high forging heat and another flatter on the face as the front was flattened to desire, removing the open face area. Regathering again to control the outer shape of the face and re-flattening again. How many "agains" is that? Several if you want the shape square, or octagon. Less if you want it round on the face. Then the eye operation was performed to our desired location. Notice things that were learned, and corrected for. When tapering the bar a considerable amount of bird's mouthing occurs unless you spend a bunch of time gathering the metal and driving it back into itself. We opted to cut that end off with a friction saw. We then determined that the amount of metal chosen was enough for a very large faced flatter, too large for our desires. So we then reduced the tapered shaft length about 1 inch so it was necessary to re-work our taper to fit the anvil / swage if it would not fit. Remember we wanted our stock to reach the floor of our anvil. Today if I was to start the same project I would skip out and go fishing! But if I must do the project I think I would use 1-3/4x4. Using 4150 would be substituted with 1045 until I was convinced otherwise. Why? It requires at least 50% less energy to form. I cannot compare the operation to 4140 as I have not used that yet. Carry on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCROB Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Forged 5 flatters this weekend with Lyle Wynn, David Gaddis and Stan Bryant. Came out pretty nice. flat1.jpg flat2.jpg wow very nice job !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Great job guys! I'm glad to see you all getting together and making tools. Keep up the good work, and please share all the other things you've been doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Thomasson Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Ditto on Brian's post. Awesome flatters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Really nice work. As a beginner it's nice to know that it's not necessarily easy to do even for a skilled hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricS Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Dave, thanks for the tutorial and mostly the lessons learned. I see a flatter or 2 in my future along with a custom upsetting anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Mullins Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Very nice indeed. A tool I definitely need to add to my collection. I was thinking about cheating and welding one :unsure: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 The welded flatter: A welded flatter is a good tool for the power hammer. As I was instructed to do, place an appropriate round rod over a smallish flat plate...down the centerline and weld. I have one that gets lots of usage. It is about 2-1/2 square x 1/2 thick 5160. It has a rod attached to allow for control on the power hammer. The power head comes down to hit the rod which in turns transmits energy to the work surface. If turned sideways then a nice taper can be installed with a forged to finish touch. BUT: when I welded a plate onto a repurposed hammer all I got was a very tall cheap tool. It does work for a while and is better than nothing. The walls of the hammer eye are too weak to withstand the required striking energy. Maybe pics will come later. Right now I am totally happy with the flatter project. For the individual I see the 2-1/2 square head the correct size for the individual smith. It takes a little magic work to hold the flatter onto the hot metal onto the anvil while delivering a satisfactory strong strike with the other hand. EASY when a friend is near though. Carry on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua.M Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Great job guys! I'm glad to see you all getting together and making tools. Keep up the good work, and please share all the other things you've been doing. We started out with 1-15/16x 4-1/2. On the power hammer it was squared longways, then tapered to fit easily into a 1-1/2 square hole 3-1/2 inched deep (anvil). This allowed for an easily installed set in the shoulders. Cooling was required to un-seize the piece from the anvil, then back for reheating. The top operations were carried out to our desires on each instrument, re-gathering metal on the edges, driving it back into itself. Of course this made an irregular shaped face that was a bit hollowed out. Reheating to a high forging heat and another flatter on the face as the front was flattened to desire, removing the open face area. Regathering again to control the outer shape of the face and re-flattening again. How many "agains" is that? Several if you want the shape square, or octagon. Less if you want it round on the face. Then the eye operation was performed to our desired location. Notice things that were learned, and corrected for. When tapering the bar a considerable amount of bird's mouthing occurs unless you spend a bunch of time gathering the metal and driving it back into itself. We opted to cut that end off with a friction saw. We then determined that the amount of metal chosen was enough for a very large faced flatter, too large for our desires. So we then reduced the tapered shaft length about 1 inch so it was necessary to re-work our taper to fit the anvil / swage if it would not fit. Remember we wanted our stock to reach the floor of our anvil. Today if I was to start the same project I would skip out and go fishing! But if I must do the project I think I would use 1-3/4x4. Using 4150 would be substituted with 1045 until I was convinced otherwise. Why? It requires at least 50% less energy to form. I cannot compare the operation to 4140 as I have not used that yet. Carry on Forged 5 flatters this weekend with Lyle Wynn, David Gaddis and Stan Bryant. Came out pretty nice. flat1.jpg flat2.jpg Very nice guys! not as nice as the one brian and I made... but still nice ;) (you guys know my sense of humour now so i can say this safely) carry on!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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